Recognition of the Valli Trapanesi DOP
Angimbe “Natures” Extra Virgin Olive Oil got the recognition of the DOP Valli Trapanesi and from the next harvest we will bottle adding the consortium logo to the label.
The protected designation of origin, better known as the acronym DOP is a protection mark of the denomination that is attributed by the European Union to foods that come from a specific product. The request is usually made by an association dependent on the chamber of commerce and then a consortium is set up with a specification to verify that the DOP product respects all the expected characteristics and carries out all the checks from cultivation, harvesting, processing and conservation methods for the protection of the product and to guarantee the final consumer. Today, especially in the world of extra virgin olive oil, there is still a lot of food fraud affecting the consumer with products of dubious origin and with prices that could not even cover the production costs, the DOP is an important certification to communicate to the consumer that the product you are consuming comes from a specific geographical area, has certain characteristics and there is a specification that guarantees it.
Recognition of the DOP Valli Trapanesi of the Angimbe “Natures” Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Today we are talking specifically about the DOP, Valli Trapanesi, of which our oil has just received recognition from the consortium and of which it has begun to be part. Our olives will then be checked by an inspector from the Chamber of Commerce who will verify their origin, their state of health, follow them to the mill to verify the milling and then check that the containers will preserve it at a controlled temperature (14-18 degrees). For us who believe in quality and protection of the territory it is important to have witnesses who, through official certifications, can transmit it to you who consume it daily on your tables, enriching the foods you consume. Valli Trapanesi DOP extra virgin olive oil is obtained from the fruits of the olive trees of the Nocellara del Belice and Cerasuola varieties, present in the olive groves alone or together for at least 80%. Other olive varieties can compete for the remaining 20%.
Historical curiosities about olive cultivations in the Trapani valleys
Around the 15th century AD, in the Trapani area there was an increase in the production of olive oil following a strong migration of Jews towards Trapani which increased the need for oil, given the importance of the derivative in religious celebrations, but also for Jewish cuisine itself. In that period, the growth of oil production was also influenced by the use of oil mills both for olives and for milling sugar cane and pressing grapes.
We must go back to the Phoenician era to date the first olive cultivations present in the territory of western Sicily, an essential point in the routes of the navigators of the time. This cultivation was also carried out in the classical era first by the Greeks and then by the Romans, who understood the extraordinary potential of the soil and climate of this area. However, olive growing really took on a considerable dimension in the modern era; in particular, we owe the Bourbons the intuition to entrust this crop with a fundamental role in the economic growth of the entire territory. The historical material of the time in fact testifies to the massive use of resources to revitalize the production of oil, from that moment definitively part of the local economy. Even today, in the territory of the province of Trapani, there are some olive groves planted by the Spaniards during the two centuries of their domination in Sicily.